Rumors abound when it comes to the casting of Quentin Tarantino's upcoming Django Unchained, the writer/director's revenge-driven "Southern". Now Variety reports that Leonardo DiCaprio is in talks to play the film's villain, Calvin Candie.

The Spaghetti Western style story focuses on Django, a freed American slave who teams with a German bounty hunter to save his wife from Candie, an evil plantation owner.

Interestingly enough, Tarantino is said to have written the part of Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds for DiCaprio. That role ultimately went to Christoph Waltz, winning the actor an Oscar. Waltz is all-but-confirmed for Django himself in the part of a German bounty hunter who teaches Django the tricks of the trade.

The role of Django remains uncast, though Will Smith and Idris Elba are said to chief among those in discussions to headline.

The Weinstein Company has set a December 25, 2012 release date for Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained. The film is currently in that spot by itself.

The Spaghetti Western style story focuses on Django, a freed American slave who teams with a German bounty hunter to save his wife from Calvin Candie, an evil plantation owner.

Leonardo DiCaprio is in final talks to play Candie, while Christoph Waltz is expected to play the German bounty hunter. Samuel L. Jackson is also said to have a role, though the role of Django has not been cast yet.

Jamie Foxx appears to have won the title role in Quentin Tarantino's next, Django Unchained, Deadline is now confirming and final negotiations are pending.

The writer/director's revenge-driven "Southern" would feature Foxx as Django, a freed American slave who teams with a German bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz) to save his wife from Calvin Candie, an evil plantation owner (to be played by Leonardo DiCaprio).

The part of Django was heavily speculated on and both Will Smith and Idris Elba were said to have been in talks.

Foxx is best known for his Oscar-winning portrayal of Ray Charles in the 2004 biopic, Ray. He recently appeared in Due Date and as a voice in Rio with upcoming appearances in Horrible Bosses and Kane & Lynch.

Django Unchained is expected to go into production soon, aiming for a release on Christmas Day 2012.

The writer/director's revenge-driven "Southern" will feature Jamie Foxx as Django, a freed American slave who teams with a German bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz) to save his wife from Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio), an evil plantation owner. Costner's role will be that of Ace Woody, a henchman of Candie's responsible for training the slaves to fight. Samuel L. Jackson is also attached to star.

Costner, who most recently appeared in The Company Men is also set to play Jonathan Kent in the upcoming Superman reboot, Man of Steel, set to open the same month as Django Unchained's Christmas Day, 2012 release.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt will not be part of Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained ensemble due to scheduling conflicts.

MTV spoke to the actor, who said, "I've been in touch with Quentin about it, and it was so cool to trust me to do this little part in his movie. ... I would have loved, loved to have done it. He's one of my very favorite filmmakers, and he was really supportive of me directing and that meant the world to me."

That directing would be Gordon-Levitt's helming debut, Don Jon's Addiction, which reportedly is one of the projects the actor will be working on rather than Django.

The Weinstein Company has revealed, through Yahoo! Movies, the very first official artwork from Quentin Tarantino's next, Django Unchained. The minimalist poster design doesn't even include the film's title, but still manages to sum up the spaghetti western tone of the December 25th release.

In the film, the title character Django (Jamie Foxx) is a freed slave, who under the tutelage of a German bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz) becomes a badass bounty hunter himself. After assisting Waltz on taking down some bad guys for profit, he is in turn assisted by Waltz in tracking down his slave wife and liberating her from an evil plantation owner. The film deals with racism, while it's 100 percent pure popcorn and revenge flick, it takes on the evil slave owning south.

Following the debut of the teaser poster for Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained, we now also have the full synopsis for the film, scheduled to hit theaters on December 25. Here's how The Weinstein Company describes the movie:

Set in the South two years before the Civil War, "Django Unchained" stars Academy Award®-winner Jamie Foxx as Django, a slave whose brutal history with his former owners lands him face-to-face with German-born bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Academy Award®-winner Christoph Waltz). Schultz is on the trail of the murderous Brittle brothers, and only Django can lead him to his bounty. The unorthodox Schultz acquires Django with a promise to free him upon the capture of the Brittles – dead or alive.

Success leads Schultz to free Django, though the two men choose not to go their separate ways. Instead, Schultz seeks out the South’s most wanted criminals with Django by his side. Honing vital hunting skills, Django remains focused on one goal: finding and rescuing Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), the wife he lost to the slave trade long ago.

Django and Schultz’s search ultimately leads them to Calvin Candie (Academy Award®-nominee Leonardo DiCaprio), the proprietor of “Candyland,” an infamous plantation where slaves are groomed by trainer Ace Woody (Kurt Russell) to battle each other for sport. Exploring the compound under false pretenses, Django and Schultz arouse the suspicion of Stephen (Academy Award®-nominee Samuel L. Jackson), Candie's trusted house slave. Their moves are marked, and a treacherous organization closes in on them. If Django and Schultz are to escape with Broomhilda, they must choose between independence and solidarity, between sacrifice and survival...

Written and directed by Academy Award®-winner Quentin Tarantino, DJANGO UNCHAINED is produced by Stacey Sher, Pilar Savone and Reginald Hudlin. The executive producers are Harvey and Bob Weinstein, Michael Shamberg, Shannon McIntosh, and James Skotchdopole. DJANGO UNCHAINED will be released in the U.S. on December 25, 2012, and internationally by Sony Pictures Releasing International.

Samuel L. Jackson has been discussing his involvement in the forthcoming Quentin Tarantino movie Django Unchained, explaining that the film will be an uncompromising account of a difficult time in America's past.

"It's definitely an opportunity to explore a place in my history that I hadn't thought about, and deal with it in an honest and very dramatic way" he told The Hollywood Reporter.

The film - and you should skip this paragraph if you want to avoid MILD SPOILERS - revolves around a slave called Django who makes a deal with a German bounty hunter to help him on his mission to hunt down a pair of murderous brothers in exchange for his freedom. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Jamie Foxx and Christoph Waltz.

Jackson explained that he jumped at the chance to make another movie with long-time collaborator Quentin Tarantino, and that his preparation included watching the controversial pseudo-documentary about slavery, Farewell Uncle Tom.

"Quentin pays homage to a lot of different genres" he added. "It's his take on those films. But it's not like it's something that's not part of the fabric of this country – and it happened."

Set in the South two years before the Civil War, "Django Unchained" stars Academy Award®-winner Jamie Foxx as Django, a slave whose brutal history with his former owners lands him face-to-face with German-born bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Academy Award®-winner Christoph Waltz). Schultz is on the trail of the murderous Brittle brothers, and only Django can lead him to his bounty. The unorthodox Schultz acquires Django with a promise to free him upon the capture of the Brittles – dead or alive.

Success leads Schultz to free Django, though the two men choose not to go their separate ways. Instead, Schultz seeks out the South’s most wanted criminals with Django by his side. Honing vital hunting skills, Django remains focused on one goal: finding and rescuing Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), the wife he lost to the slave trade long ago.

Django and Schultz’s search ultimately leads them to Calvin Candie (Academy Award®-nominee Leonardo DiCaprio), the proprietor of “Candyland,” an infamous plantation where slaves are groomed by trainer Ace Woody (Kurt Russell) to battle each other for sport. Exploring the compound under false pretenses, Django and Schultz arouse the suspicion of Stephen (Academy Award®-nominee Samuel L. Jackson), Candie's trusted house slave. Their moves are marked, and a treacherous organization closes in on them. If Django and Schultz are to escape with Broomhilda, they must choose between independence and solidarity, between sacrifice and survival...

The first trailer for Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained has been arrived, courtesy of Fandango. Check it out in the player below!

Set in the South two years before the Civil War, Django Unchained stars Academy Award-winner Jamie Foxx as Django, a slave whose brutal history with his former owners lands him face-to-face with German-born bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Academy Award-winner Christoph Waltz). Schultz is on the trail of the murderous Brittle brothers, and only Django can lead him to his bounty. The unorthodox Schultz acquires Django with a promise to free him upon the capture of the Brittles – dead or alive.

Success leads Schultz to free Django, though the two men choose not to go their separate ways. Instead, Schultz seeks out the South’s most wanted criminals with Django by his side. Honing vital hunting skills, Django remains focused on one goal: finding and rescuing Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), the wife he lost to the slave trade long ago.

Django and Schultz’s search ultimately leads them to Calvin Candie (Academy Award-nominee Leonardo DiCaprio), the proprietor of “Candyland,” an infamous plantation where slaves are groomed by trainer Ace Woody (Kurt Russell) to battle each other for sport. Exploring the compound under false pretenses, Django and Schultz arouse the suspicion of Stephen (Academy Award-nominee Samuel L. Jackson), Candie's trusted house slave. Their moves are marked, and a treacherous organization closes in on them. If Django and Schultz are to escape with Broomhilda, they must choose between independence and solidarity, between sacrifice and survival...

Yesterday, we posted a tease of the international trailer for Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained, and you can now watch the full version using the player below!

Set in the South two years before the Civil War, the December 25 release stars Jamie Foxx as Django, a slave whose brutal history with his former owners lands him face-to-face with German-born bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz). Schultz is on the trail of the murderous Brittle brothers, and only Django can lead him to his bounty. The unorthodox Schultz acquires Django with a promise to free him upon the capture of the Brittles – dead or alive.

Success leads Schultz to free Django, though the two men choose not to go their separate ways. Instead, Schultz seeks out the South’s most wanted criminals with Django by his side. Honing vital hunting skills, Django remains focused on one goal: finding and rescuing Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), the wife he lost to the slave trade long ago.

Django and Schultz’s search ultimately leads them to Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio), the proprietor of “Candyland,” an infamous plantation where slaves are groomed by trainer Ace Woody (Kurt Russell) to battle each other for sport. Exploring the compound under false pretenses, Django and Schultz arouse the suspicion of Stephen (Samuel L. Jackson), Candie's trusted house slave. Their moves are marked, and a treacherous organization closes in on them. If Django and Schultz are to escape with Broomhilda, they must choose between independence and solidarity, between sacrifice and survival...

Already set to team with Leonardo DiCaprio later this year for Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street, Deadline reports that Jonah Hill is now a late addition to the cast of Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained, starring DiCaprio as the central villain.

In the film, Django (Foxx) is a freed slave, who under the tutelage of a German bounty hunter (Waltz) becomes a badass bounty hunter himself. After assisting Waltz on taking down some bad guys for profit, he is in turn assisted by Waltz in tracking down his slave wife and liberating her from an evil plantation owner (DiCaprio).

There's no word yet on who Hill might be playing. The actor appeared earlier this year in 21 Jump Street and can soon be seen in the sci-fi comedy The Watch.

The Weinstein Company revealed a new 60-second spot for Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained during the BET Awards on Sunday and you can now watch it online below.

Set in the South two years before the Civil War, the December 25 release stars Jamie Foxx as Django, a slave whose brutal history with his former owners lands him face-to-face with German-born bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz). Schultz is on the trail of the murderous Brittle brothers, and only Django can lead him to his bounty. The unorthodox Schultz acquires Django with a promise to free him upon the capture of the Brittles – dead or alive.

Success leads Schultz to free Django, though the two men choose not to go their separate ways. Instead, Schultz seeks out the South’s most wanted criminals with Django by his side. Honing vital hunting skills, Django remains focused on one goal: finding and rescuing Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), the wife he lost to the slave trade long ago.

Django and Schultz’s search ultimately leads them to Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio), the proprietor of “Candyland,” an infamous plantation where slaves are groomed by trainer Ace Woody to battle each other for sport. Exploring the compound under false pretenses, Django and Schultz arouse the suspicion of Stephen (Samuel L. Jackson), Candie's trusted house slave. Their moves are marked, and a treacherous organization closes in on them. If Django and Schultz are to escape with Broomhilda, they must choose between independence and solidarity, between sacrifice and survival...